Connected exercise device

ABSTRACT

The connected exercise device includes a main body member that receives resistance bands attached thereto where the main body member is flexed during such use. The main body member includes a preferably tubular configuration for slidably receiving a force sensing member that is interconnected to the main body member. At least one strain gauge attached to the force sensing member, which provides a live real time output signal associated with the force sensed by the at least one strain gauge due to the flexing of the main body member. Electronic circuitry is configured and arranged for wirelessly transmitting the output signal to an external computing device for use by the user for enhanced understanding of use of the connected exercise device.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application is related to, and claims benefit from, U.S. Provisional Application No. 63/351,968, filed on Jun. 14, 2022, entitled “CONNECTED EXERCISE DEVICE,” incorporated by reference in its entirety, herein.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates generally to exercise devices. More specifically, the present invention relates to an exercise device that includes resistance, for example, in the form of bands that upon stretching the bands, exercise can be achieved. In particular, the bands are stretched over, for example, the free open ends of a bow-like structure where the bands are pulled, pushed or otherwise manipulated to receive the resistance for exercise.

However, known resistance band devices, such as the Gorilla Bow device manufactured and sold by Gorilla Bow, LLC, provide such as a resistance exercise device using resistance bands and does, indeed, provide a physical workout. However, these resistance band exercise devices suffer from the disadvantage of not being able to measure the exact weight or resistance that they are delivering to the user because, due to their nature of using resistance bands that inherently provide a variable resistance load related to the distance that the band is stretched. These known devices also do not provide the capability of being connected to the user's computer equipment, other electronic device, system or service for ease of measurement and recording/monitoring of the user's exercise history.

There have been attempts in the industry to provide such connectivity and resistance/force measurement to such devices that are difficult to monitor and track, such as bicycles, treadmills, rowing machines, step machines, elliptical machines and personal training equipment.

Therefore, there is a need in the industry to provide a resistance band exercise device with the capability of detect a user's exercise, count the amount of repetition and track the exact weight and power the user is exerting during the exercise.

There is also a need to create a community and gamification around such resistance band exercise devices, such as the above Gorilla Bow device, while connecting the exercise device to the user's computer devices and the Internet to keep users engaged.

There is also a need for a device, system and method to connect and engage the user with a community of similar users to give them a way to save and track their workouts and progress of use of the resistance band exercise device.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The connected exercise device of the present invention provides a comprehensive and accurate measurement of the resistance during exercise as delivered by the resistance bands, track the exercise carried out by the user, the number of repetitions, speed of the user, and the like. All measured metrics are relayed to an external device, system of servicer, such as an external computer device, such as a smartwatch, phone, tablet, computer, and the like wirelessly, such as via Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, cellular connection or other protocol or with a wired connection. Such a connection may be made also be made either directly or indirectly to another system or service, such a local area network, a private network or to a cloud-based storage service. These measurements give the user an accurate measurement of each exercise, which is an improvement over prior art devices that are only capable of providing the physical exercise with no accurate measurement, monitoring, recording or tracking of the exercise metrics. In other words, in prior art devices, the user must count their own repetitions and track how much resistance they have installed onto the device in the way of resistance bands, and the like. However, precise tracking of the use of the device is not accurate, particularly as to the how much resistance the user is experiencing during use of the exercise device.

In accordance with the present invention, a resistance band device is converted into a smart connected device that has the ability to detect user exercise, count the amount of repetition, track the exact weight and power the user is exerting during the exercise, among other capabilities that are not possible with prior art devices. Since the device is connected to other devices, systems and services, via a wireless or wired connection, there are numerous additional features and capabilities that are possible compared to non-connected prior art exercise devices. For example, a social media connectivity is possible where connected community and gamification of the device is possible where the smart connected exercise device keeps users engaged gives them the ability to save, and track their workouts and progress, as well as share their workouts with others, which was not possible before. Moreover, interconnectivity to cloud based systems and services, enable backups of recorded workouts, preferences, and the like, for enhanced enjoyment and use of the connected exercise device of the present invention.

In view of the foregoing, an object of the present invention is to provide a new connected exercise device.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a smart connected exercise device that is connected, such as wirelessly or by wire, to a computer device.

A further object of the present invention is to provide a smart connected exercise device that connects to a smartwatch, phone, tablet, computer, cloud-based system or service, and the like.

Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a smart connected exercise device that accurately measures the amount of resistance delivered to the user.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a smart connected exercise device that records metrics associated with the resistance delivered to the user.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIGURES

The novel features that are characteristic of the present invention are set forth in the appended claims. However, the invention's preferred embodiments, together with further objects and attendant advantages, will be best understood by reference to the following detailed description taken in connection with the accompanying Figures and attachments:

FIG. 1 shows the present invention provided as a kit that includes the connected bow portion, bands of different resistances as well a storage bag and information for setup of the device;

FIGS. 2A, 2B, and 2C show three different sample exercises that can be conducted using the connected exercise device of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a partial cross-sectional view through a tubular main body portion of the exercise device of FIGS. 1 and 2 with some of the internal components, such as the internal loadbar, shown in phantom lines;

FIGS. 4A-M shows various views of the preferably aluminum loadbar that carries various components, such as strain gauges, printed circuits board, wiring, buttons, and the like for insertion into the tubular main body member of the exercise device;

FIGS. 5A-C show various views of the spacer block/stand-offs used in the present invention;

FIGS. 6A-C show various views of a J mount member for use in the internal assembly of the present invention;

FIGS. 7A-B show various views of the spring steel button;

FIGS. 8A-B show various views of the endcap battery;

FIGS. 9A-B show various views of the endcap; and

FIG. 10 shows a flow chart of a preferred embodiment of the use of the smart connected exercise resistance band device of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

The new and unique connected exercise device 10 of the present invention is discussed in detail below.

With the smart connected resistance band exercise device 10 of the present invention, the user 12 knows exactly the weight resistance they are working and the device 10 will track various elements of their workouts, such as the amount of resistance experienced during a workout, repetitions, and the like with the capability to save these metrics and features experienced to track their progress. A user 12 will also be able to join a community and measure their progress against other users via a social media component of the present invention 10. The present invention 20 preferably has an open application programming interface (“API”) to enable it to connect to other fitness devices and ecosystems. For example, the smart connected resistance band exercise device 10 of the present invention could provide the strength element/component to any of the connected exercise bikes, rowing machines, or the like, or be incorporated into a fitness or health ecosystem, such as Apple's HealthKit. Such interconnectivity of devices, namely, exercised devices, is well known in the art and needed not be discussed in further detail herein.

Referring first to FIG. 1 , a top view of the present invention 10, provided as a kit, that includes the connected tubular bow portion 14, a set of bands 16 of different resistances as well a storage bag 18 and information 20 for setup of the device 10. As is well known in the art, the free ends 16 a of a given band 16 (of which are knotted or have an enlarged end portion), which is preferably color coded to a given known resistance, are attached to opposing ends of the bow 14 in similar fashion to an archer's bow. As will be discussed in detail below, inside of the bow 14 is strain detection components and other computer components to provide more precise determination of the resistance experienced by the connected exercise device 10 of the present invention. Such resistance determination is more precise than the simple correlation of the general resistance to a given color of a given resistance band 16. For example, the following bands 16 and associated colors may be used but it should be understood that any color combination and associated resistances may be used and still be within the scope of the present invention: 10 lb. (yellow); 20 lb. (red); 30 lb. (light green); 40 lb. (orange); 50 lb. (blue); 60 lb. (gray); 70 lb. (dark green); 80 lb. (dark orange)' 90 lb. (purple); and 100 lb. (black). Further, as is well known, the resistance bands 16 can be mixed and matched for a custom total weight resistance. For example, the red and blue bands 16 can be combined together to provide 70 lbs. of total resistance.

FIGS. 2A, 2B, and 2C show three different sample exercises of many different possible exercises that can be conducted using the connected exercise device of the present invention. For example, FIGS. 2 shows a rowing exercise, FIG. 2B shows an archer's pulling exercise while FIG. 2C shows a bicep curl exercise. The connected exercise device 10 of the present invention is used essentially the same as a prior art non-connected exercise device so there is no learning curve or impediment to using the new connected exercise device 10. However, the connected exercise device 10 provides the seamless tracking and monitoring to provide significant added enjoyment and usefulness of the device 10.

The smart connected resistance band exercise device 10 of the present invention is shown to include a bow-like member 14 onto which one or more of the different resistance bands 16 are be attached thereto to span across the opposing forked free ends 14 a thereof. The different color bands 16 can be attached between the multiple tines of the forked ends 14 a. As can be seen in FIGS. 2A-C, the resistance exercise device 10 can be used in many different ways for different exercises. During a workout and use of the exercise device 10, the amount of resistance can be generally determined by adding up the respective forces of each band 16 installed with the assistance of the color coding. The present invention greatly enhances the accuracy and ease of determining the amount of resistance received while also logging all activity, as will be discussed in detail below.

FIG. 3 , shows a cross-section through the line 3-3 of the exercise device of FIG. 1 . FIG. 3 generally shows the internal components thereof and as housed within the outer tubular member 14 of the connected exercise device 10 of the present invention. Preferably, a force sensing member 18, such as a loadbar, is fixedly mounted inside the cavity 15 tubular member 14 via stand-offs 20 with strain gauges 22 mounted on the loadbar. The blocks 24 shown in FIG. 3 are for display purposes only and are not part of the present invention.

FIGS. 4A-M show details of the loadbar 18, which is preferably aluminum, the mounting stand-offs 20, the strain gauges 22, printed circuit board (“PCB”) 28 with associated internal components of the connected exercise device 10 of the present invention. To measure the actual resistance of the bands 16 delivered to the user 12 when the user pulls on them during an exercise, the loadbar 18 is mounted inside the tubular main body member 14 of the device 10, which is preferably of a tubular construction where the loadbar is internally mounted thereto via standoffs 20 with strain gauges 22 adhered to it. The strain gauges 22 are electronically interconnected to the PCB 28 and preferably wired into an analog gain stage to amplify the signal for ease of use and processing by the connected exercise device 10 of the present invention. The loadbar 18 is preferably square or rectangular in cross-section where standoff mounted blocks 20 assist in securing the loadbar 18 within the tubular body member 17. Strain gauges 22 are mounted to the loadbar 18, preferably in the approximate middle of the loadbar 18 for optimal strain detection and accuracy. At least one strain gauge 22 is preferably secured in a recess 30 in sidewall 18 b of the loadbar 18 as well as on the top surface 18 a thereof.

While not shown in FIG. 4A, the strain gauges 22 are electrically interconnected to the electronics components, as will be discussed below and shown in connection with FIG. 10 . FIG. 4B shows another view of the loadbar 18 a mounting standoff 20 secured thereto. FIG. 4C shows a close-up view of the loadbar 18 with a recess 30 therein to receive at least one strain gauge 22. It should be noted that the loadbar configuration of FIGS. 4A-M is just one of many different configurations that can be used and still be within the scope of the present invention 10. The loadbar 18 is preferably made of aluminum but can be made of any material, such as metal, plastic, or the like. For example, the cross-sectional shape of the loadbar 18 maybe square, rectangular, trapezoidal, triangular, and the like, as long as it provides a support surface for one or more strain gauges 22 and can be mounted within the tubular main body member 14. FIG. 4D shows the strain gauges 22 mounted to a top surface 18 a of the loadbar where wiring 32 is provided for electrical interconnection to the PCB 28. Zip ties 34 or other structures may be used to secure the wiring 32 in place.

FIGS. 4E through 4M show further views of the aluminum bar that carries strain gauges in various locations, such as inside the recess and/or on the top of the aluminum bar.

FIGS. 4E, a top view, and 4F, a side elevational view, show the further use of spring buttons 36 with a press portion 36 a to physically interface with electrical contacts for operation of the connected exercise device 10 of the present invention. For example, one of the buttons 36 can be used to power the device 10 on and off while the other button 36 can be used for a reset, save, or other operation of the connected exercise device 10 of the present invention. J mount brackets 38, as shown below in FIGS. 6A-C, are used to mount endcaps 40 and an endcap battery 42 to respective opposing free ends of the loadbar 18 and tubular main body member 14. While such a J bar mount 38 is preferably used, other configuration and shapes of other mounts may be used instead. FIG. 4K shows and end view of the connected exercise device 10 of the present invention where an endcap 40 is provided to seal an open end of the tubular main body member 14.

FIGS. 4G and 4H show further views of the loadbar member 18 that slidably resides inside the tubular main body member 14. In FIG. 4G, a top view, preferably two strain gauges 22 are mounted to the top of the loadbar 18. More specifically, it is preferred that a total of four stain gauges 22 are mounted, such as bonding in multiple locations, to the loadbar 18, two on the top surface 18 a and two inside the recess 30 in the side wall 18 b in the loadbar 18, as seen in FIG. 4H. The wiring leads 32 are secured to the loadbar 18 and electrically interconnected to the PCB 28. The strain gauges 22 are preferably coated with a polyurethane for durability, to help avoid corrosion and help secure the strain gauges 22 in place.

FIG. 4I shows another top view of the loadbar 18 and FIG. 4J shows another side elevational view to show the holes 44 for receipt of the J mount for receiving the endcap and endcap battery 42. FIG. 4M shows an end view of the loadbar 18 to further show another view of the screw holes 44 therein.

The loadbar 18 can be configured in many different sizes and shapes as long as it can fit in and be secured in the tubular main body member 14. For example, the loadbar 18 may be about 444.50 mm in length and 12.70 mm by 12.70 mm in cross-section. The recess may be 10.16 mm by 22.86 mm with rounded corners, as seen in the figures. These are merely examples of the different dimensions that may be used in accordance with the connected exercise device 10 of the present invention.

FIGS. 5A-C show details of the stand-off mounting block 20, which is used to secure the loadbar 18 within the tubular main body member 14 of the exercise device 10. Referring back to FIGS. 4A and 4B, it can be seen how the stand-off mounting block 20 is secured to opposing ends of the loadbar 18. As in FIG. 5A, the mounting block 20 preferably has two pass-through holes 46 to receive preferably threaded fasteners 48 therethrough, as seen in FIG. 4F. The mounting block 20 is preferably block-like in shape as can be seen by the end view of FIG. 5B and the side elevational view of FIG. 5C.

FIGS. 6A-C show details of the J mount 38, as seen in FIGS. 4E and 4F, to further illustrate the mounting of the loadbar 18 within the tubular body member 14 of the exercise device 10 while also supporting the endcap battery 42 and endcap member 40. FIG. 6A shows a front view of the J mount 38 while FIG. 6B shows a top view and FIG. 6C shows an end view, with reference to FIG. 4E It should be understood that the J mount bracket 38 is just one of many structures that can be used to secure the endcap battery 42 and endcap members 42 to the free ends of the loadbar 18.

FIGS. 7A-B show different views of a spring steel button (pin) 36 that is used to interact with the PCB 28, namely to power the device 10 on and off, reset the device, establish a wireless connection, and the like. FIG. 7A shows a side view of the button 36 while FIG. 7B shows a top view of the button. One or more such buttons 36 may be used, if desired.

Since the connected exercise device 10 of the present invention is an electrically powered device, it needs electrical power for operation. FIGS. 8A-B show the endcap battery 42, which is preferably of an acrylic and medium impact construction. The battery 42 maybe replaceable or non-replaceable and may be rechargeable or not. For example, the battery 42 can be a rechargeable lithium-ion type battery whereby the PCB 28 has an interconnection port for interconnection of a power for such recharging via a USB-C port or the like, which may 5 volts, 9 volts, 15 volts, 20 volts, or even 12 volts. The connected exercise device 10 of the present invention may also support wireless induction charging. The battery 42 is mounted to a free end of the loadbar 18 by the J mount 38, as in FIG. 4E above, via preferably two pass through holes and a fasteners (not shown) through.

FIGS. 9A-B show different views of the endcap 40 itself that includes a number of holes 50 for receipt of fasteners therethrough. Also, a pass through port 54 is provided for receipt of a USB-C type connector thereto for electrical interconnection to the battery, such as for charging thereof.

It should be understood that the above is one of many different ways the loadbar 18 can be mounted within the exercise device and how the user 12 interacts with the electronics. Therefore, it is not intended for the present invention to be limited to the specific mounting configuration shown.

Thus, flexing of the tubular body member 14 of the exercise device 10 of the present invention causes the loadbar 18, residing inside the tubular body member, to also flex at a substantial mid-point thereby causing the strain gauge(s) 22, attached thereto at that mid-point, to sense such flexing to translate the physical flexing to a digital strain gauge signal. More than one, such as four strain gauges 22 can be used for completeness and accuracy. For example, the strain gauges 22 may be attached to the top outside surface 18 a of the loadbar 18 of the exercise device or in the cut-out recess area 30 in the middle of the device, as seen in FIG. 4A.

Details of the operation and electronics of the exercise device 10 of the present invention is shown in the flow chart of FIG. 10 . Via a USB-C port 52, which may be many different voltages depending on the design of the circuit, electricity is delivered to a battery charger 54 via a USB-C controller 56, which in turn delivers electricity to the rechargeable battery 58 for powering the connected exercise device 10 of the present invention. Charging of the rechargeable battery 58 via a USB-C controller 56 is employed to provide power to the circuitry. A fuel gauge 60 reports the level of charge left in the rechargeable battery 58.

Via boost converter 62, power is provided to the strain gauge(s) 22 and then an output signal that is then connected/passed to a microprocessor's analog to digital converter 64, with signal processing, so that the input data can be digitized. The digitized data is then transmitted preferably wirelessly, preferably over a Bluetooth connection via a Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) module 66, to an external target device, such as a smartwatch, phone, tablet, or computer device. As shown in FIG. 10 , various other components are provided for voltage low detection 68, hardware revision number 70, signal conditioning 64, a low drop out regulator (LDO) 72 with power LED indicator 74 connected thereto, a serial port header 76, program/debug header 78, EEPROM 80 and debug LED 82.

For example, as far as these circuit components used in connection with the present invention, a system on a chip (SoC) with an ARM microcontroller with a BLE radio built into one chip, such as the Nordic NRF-52832 may be employed by the present invention to serve as the “brain” of the system. Firmware monitors the battery 58 and read the strain gauges 22. In addition to a power supply and microcontroller/radio circuits, analog circuitry to read the strain gauges 22 is provided. The circuits preferably amplify the relatively small signals from the strain gauges 22 and allow selecting which gauge is to be read. If space allows, in addition to the gauge circuitry, the present invention 10 may include provisions for a combined accelerometer/gyroscope IC inertial measurement unit 84. This will allow and accommodate motion features to the configuration of the present invention if the data can be valuable for algorithms and tracking in addition to the strain gauges 22.

The target device, such as a smart phone that also has wireless capability, namely, Bluetooth, preferably has an application running thereon to parse and process the incoming stream of digitized data coming from the exercise device. Appropriate authentication can be provided for the transmitted Bluetooth signal. Smart phones and other wireless capable devices and applications thereon are so well known in the art that they do not need to be provided or shown herein. Processing of the data received wirelessly by the external device is carried out via an application on the external device to detect exercise repetitions and convert the strain measurements transmitted to the external computer device to a unit of force. The force data detected can then be stored, compared, viewed or otherwise used by the user 12 to enhance their exercise experience and results using the resistance band type exercise device 10 of the present invention. The data may be kept locally on the external device and/or the data may be stored remotely, such as in a cloud-based storage solution. Appropriate live reporting of the strain detected may be displayed for user reference. Stored force data may be displayed and presented in the form of reports, if desired, to add value of the collected data for the user.

While there is shown and described herein certain specific structure embodying the invention, it will be manifest to those skilled in the art that various modifications and rearrangements of the parts may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the underlying inventive concept and that the same is not limited to the particular forms herein shown and described except insofar as indicated by the scope of the appended claims. 

What is claimed is:
 1. A connected exercise device, comprising: a main body member configured and arranged for receiving resistance bands attached thereto; a force sensing member interconnected to the main body member; at least one strain gauge attached to the force sensing member; an output signal associated with the force sensed by the at least one strain gauge; electronic circuitry configured and arranged for transmitting the output signal to an external computing device; wherein the transmitted output signal is received by the external computing device for use by the user for enhanced understanding of use of the connected exercise device.
 2. The connected exercise device of claim 1, wherein the output signal is transmitted wirelessly.
 3. The connected exercise device of claim 1, wherein the output signal is transmitted by wire.
 4. The connected exercise device of claim 1, wherein the main body member is hollow and the force sensing member is a loadbar.
 5. The connected exercise device of claim 4, wherein the loadbar is made of aluminum.
 6. The connected exercise device of claim 1, wherein the force sensing member further defines a recess; at least one strain gauge residing in the recess.
 7. The connected exercise device of claim 1, further comprising a processing module that is configured and arranged to parse the output signal into repetitions of flex of the connected exercise device.
 8. The connected exercise device of claim 1, further comprising a processing module that is configured and arranged to parse the output signal into force value.
 9. The connected exercise device of claim 1, further comprising a processing module that is configured and arranged to save the output signal.
 10. The connected exercise device of claim 1, further comprising a processing module that is configured and arranged to transmit the output signal to an external device. 